


we got scars on our future hearts, but we never looked back

by LilacsAndLilies



Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Gift Fic, How Do I Tag, Norman Osborn's A+ parenting, Not Beta Read, Spider-Man Identity Reveal, lots of yelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-02-23 02:00:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23803984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilacsAndLilies/pseuds/LilacsAndLilies
Summary: Harry is back in town after the Green Goblin is put in jail. His father's identity isn't the only one being revealed to him.Only teen for a few curses.
Relationships: Harry Osborn & Peter Parker
Comments: 6
Kudos: 49





	we got scars on our future hearts, but we never looked back

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ProsperDemeter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProsperDemeter/gifts).



> Happy (late) Birthday to one of the most amazing people and writers that I know! Hope I did the boys justice.

Peter swung into his room through the open window, planting himself on the ground in the dark room. He looked over himself, scanning for tears in his suit and wounds that needed stitching. The only light in the room was his laptop, an old video playing on it as the Green Goblin was led to jail and his identity was pasted everywhere. He had just come back from tying up some loose ends and fighting people Norman had under him. After making sure that nothing needed immediate attention, he flopped onto his bed, exhausted from the fight. He’d been fighting Norman for at least the last 4 years, and now, in the summer after his senior year, it was starting to be too much. Especially with Harry due to come back from boarding school any day.

He glanced over at his phone, pulling up the texts from his childhood friend. Harry’s flight was due to reach NYC tomorrow and it was the first time Peter would see him in almost four years. Four years of texting and calling and video chats kept them just as close as they were when they were boys, but a lot had changed, and Peter couldn’t wait to see his friend in person again. 

Still, the circumstances soured the meeting. He was coming home early to take over Oscorp after his own father had been revealed to be a super villain. Peter’s heart broke at how tired his friend had sounded. Norman had never been a good father, and Harry spent more time at Peter’s house than his own, but to hear that his own father was a super villain would break anyone. To hear his best friend was the superhero putting his father in jail time after time would probably hurt more.

He groaned and leaned back again, glancing up at the clock. May’s shift still hadn’t ended. He still had time before she came bursting in here, demanding to see his wounds. If he wasn’t so tired he would have laughed and how torn up and dirty he looked. The first aid kit sat tauntingly at his bedside. Peter heard a click as the front door was unlocked. Had May gotten back early? He heard light, hesitant footsteps and rolling?

He sat up, rushing to open the first aid kit and look like he was doing something in case it was May. Then he got in a ready position to fight in case it was another attacker. Norman knew his name, there was no telling what he would do with it. The door to his room swung open, and standing in the doorway was none other than Harry Osborn.

Harry dropped the handle of the suitcase in his hand, the bag crashing to the floor. Peter flinched. “Peter?”

Peter gulped, suddenly acutely aware that he was still in his suit. “Harry, I thought you were coming tomorrow?” He rushed the pack up the first aid kit and tried to discreetly pull a blanket over his suit, hoping the lack of light would have hid it. 

Harry didn’t say anything, only walking up to Peter’s desk and pulling out a chair. “Found an earlier flight, though I’d come. I was in the airport when I realized I didn’t want to go to the mansion, I wanted to come home.” He turned the chair to face Peter, almost falling into it. He looked Peter straight in the eye. “I came home to find my best friend wearing a suit that looks like it belongs to a superhero.”

Peter’s breath got caught in his throat. “I- I-” He racked his brain for a last ditch attempt at a secret. “It’s a merch hoodie?” He said lamely. He knew the excuse was weak, and the look on Harry’s face all but confirmed that it hadn’t stood up. 

Harry just looked him straight in the eye. “Don’t lie to me, I’ve had enough of my family do that.” His voice was raw as he stared at Peter. “Please, just tell me the truth.”

Peter’s voice cracked. He was suddenly acutely aware of the wounds on his skin. “I- I’m Spider-Man.”

Harry slammed his hand down on the chair and Peter struggled not to flinch. “Goddamn it Peter! I get called from a different country and told that I suddenly need to take over a company I was supposed to have years to get used to, and then I come home to find out that you’re a superhero?” His voice died out, and the shouts became a quiet whisper. “Spider-Man showed up 4 years ago. When were you going to tell me?”

“I-” Peter scrambled to say something, anything. “I didn’t want to worry you. I never told anyone, the only people who know, found out. I just- I just wanted to keep you safe. The further away you are from Spider-Man, the better.” Peter sounded desperate. He needed Harry to understand that he didn’t lie for fun.

“I was already involved!” Harry spun around, pointing at the open laptop. “You have been fighting my father for at least the last three years! I didn’t know about him and I didn’t know about you.” He froze. “Did you know the Green Goblin was my father?” Peter didn’t say anything, instead slowly pulling the blanket off and raising a hand to comfort Harry. “Did. You. Know?”

“Yes.”

Harry looked at him with anger in his eyes. He opened his mouth to shout, only to drop his head into his arms instead. He looked down at the ground. “Did you both talk about me? Was it a game, both of you playing with my name, using it as blackmail while I was clueless?”

Peter tried to stand up, but his legs were weak and he fell back onto the bed. “No.” His throat felt sore. “I- mean, yes, but- but not like that, I-”

Harry cut him off. “Like what then?” He stood up. “Tell me that our friendship mattered. Tell me why you couldn’t tell who my father was and who you were!”

“Because this! Because I knew how much it would hurt you to know what he was doing. Because no matter how shitty of a father he was, he was still your father! I didn’t want to watch you get hurt because your father kept threatening me with you!” Peter pointed at the screen. “That is the Green Goblin. That is not your father. That monster doesn’t care about anyone.”

Harry just stared at Peter, his eyes wide. He slumped back into the chair. "He didn't care before either. I don't care about him! Yeah sure the company thing was overwhelming but honestly, I just thought good riddance when I saw him get dragged to jail. He was insane, and I'm not surprised something like this was the result. He didn't betray everything I knew about him. You did. I never thought you could lie to me like this."

"I didn't lie."

"I think being a superhero for the last four years would be a big part of your life. We shared everything but you couldn't trust me with this?"

Peter wanted to beg Harry to stop, to make this broken relationship they had in front of them fit together again. "Aunt May didn't know for almost a year. She found me in the suit just like you did. I didn't even tell her."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Harry cried out. "The fact that you've changed so much that you saw no issue in lying to your aunt? Why didn't you tell her?"

"Spider-Man has a lot of enemies. Any one of them would not hesitate to get you or May in order to get to me. I couldn't take that risk."

Harry gestured out the window. "I was in Europe!"

"And that's too far for me to protect you!"

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't say anything. He slumped back in the chair. "I- I just don't know who you are anymore. And that scares me."

"I'm still me. I haven't changed, I just have these spider abilities that I use to help people, the same way I've always tried." Peter raised a hand, his web shooters on clear display.

Harry snorted and rolled his eyes. "Sorry if I don't believe you." His voice was cold, almost sardonic, but Peter could hear the regret at the mention of old memories. Nostalgia for the old them.

Peter dropped his hand. "I know this means nothing, but I'm sorry."

"Sorry that you lied or sorry that I found out?"

Peter ignored the question. It was never as clear cut as that. "I just wanted you safe. I might have done it the wrong way but I tried."

“You could have tried in a different way.” Harry just sounded tired. Peter couldn’t help but feel the same. Harry’s eyes bore into Peter, as if trying to see through the tangled webs of lies and concern. Peter knew there was nothing more he could say. He just needed to wait for his judgment. 

He sat down, wincing at the open cuts on his skin. Harry’s eyes grew wide as he watched Peter wince. “You’re hurt.” His voice was soft, almost completely devoid of the anger from before.

Peter looked down at his arm, the cut still bright red but healing. “It’ll be fine.”

Harry just shook his head before getting up and sitting beside Peter on the bed. He picked up one of the bandages and gingerly pressed them onto Peter’s skin. It was familiar, and Peter was reminded of a time long ago, when Harry was bandaging wounds from bullies and not actual bad guys. Peter almost laughed at the Deja Vu of the situation. He bit his tongue, staying silent instead. He wanted to make a joke about how familiar this was but there were too many shouted words between them for familiar to be back yet. How could he have believed that they would just click back together like they had never been apart after four years?

The two boys sat there for a while, not talking. Harry kept going over Peter’s wound, lost deep in thought as he did so. Peter just stared at his friend, wondering how this meeting had gone so wrong. It was much, much later when Harry finally spoke up again. “I’m not mad, well, I am a little. I- I don’t fully understand all of it, but I know you had your reasons, no matter how wrong they may be. You were doing what you thought was best for me. You always have. I just wish that didn’t involve keeping me in the dark.” He stopped what he was doing and looked up at Peter. “We’re best friends. We always have been. So let me know things, let me help.”

Peter responded, his voice low. “I’m sorry. I’m not apologizing for hiding from you, because I still think it was right. Telling you earlier would have only made you want to come back and it wasn’t safe. But now you know, and I promise not to shut you out again.”

Harry just nodded. “I- I think I can live with that. As long as you promise not to lie again.”

Peter just smiled. Maybe 4 years wasn't too wide a canyon. “I’ll try. So are we cool?” He held out his hand.

Harry ignored it in favor of pulling Peter into a hug. “Yeah.”

Peter pulled away, looking Harry in the eyes.“I missed having you around.”

“I missed being around.”

“Well, you’re here now. And you’re not leaving.”

Harry shook his head, smiling. “I’m not leaving for the world.”

The two of them fell into a silence again, this time more familiar and pleasant than the last. It felt like an old worn out shirt they hadn’t seen in years but still fit just right. 

“So, how on earth did you become a superhero and why didn’t I know that you met Tony Stark?” 

Laughter echoed through the room as Aunt May swung open the doors to an apartment that felt a little more like home.

**Author's Note:**

> Talk to me on tumblr @lilacsandlilies4  
> or on discord @LilacsAndLilies#4691


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